A great place to have a cafe. Good view and nice set up. In the summer tables are set outside and a really nice . Even now we had a a thick hot soup and wholemeal bread .
The menu is very varied and should make everyone happy.
Toilets are clean and room is pleasant .
Staff work hard to make sure customers are satisfied.
My partner and I had a lovely dinner here whilst staying at the Principal Hotel which is adjoined.
We opted for some calamari, truffles and cream cheese stuffed peppers which were all incredible. For our mains we had the rib eye steak and fish & chips which really hit the spot and utterly delicious.
Our servers were all very professional, polite and extremely friendly and made sure we were having an exceptional time. Fatou imparticular was outstanding and looked after us for the whole evening.
We would highly recommend having lunch or dinner here. It's right by the train station and a great environment inside.
The member of staff who served us was lovely and attentive without being intrusive. I would say there were a couple of other waiting staff who did come across more aloof and almost rude, so I understand what is meant in some of the other reviews. We had the 'Cheesemonger’s £28
Selection of cheeses from near & far, fruit cake,medjool date jam, apple chutney, celery, grapes,
artisan biscuits (v)'
We had the serving for two, but it was enough for three of us for a light lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day, so a light delicious lunch on the terrace in the sunshine was just perfect. I would definitely recommend.
The atmosphere here is first class as was the knowledge and insight of our waitress. All the food was perfectly cooked if a little slow at the mains preparation stage with unexpected portion sizes (which we were notified of 😍). The fifth star was lost as lavender was not mentioned on the desert menu with the honeycake and that's the sort of ingredient you want to know about in advance! Gratuity ("freely given") also was included on the bill at point of print even though we would have ... Freely.... added one.
Staff were amazing so kind and catering, food was lovely. Our server was called Alex he was amazing!! And the manager Roberto was so so kind!! Ate here with my mother and we had a fabulous night thankyou to all the staff and chefs for making this a lovely trip for us. Definitely be back here again!!!
Excellent breakfast lots of choice n warm food
We enjoyed our vegan breakfasts. Enough choice. Also plenty of fruit . :)
Good food, friendly service & great setting for lunch outside.
Excellent food and service, best breakfast I've had in years!
Called in for lunch on Tuesday. Not a very big menu but a fair range on it. I had the cottage pie and my friend the fish pie. Lovely tasty food but just this in a dish. No veggies !!!! Priced at £15 for a cottage pie I have to say I did expect some vegetables with it ! Waitress was very attentive and came to check on us a couple of time, also offering to pour more wine for us. This is not meant to be a negative comment as I thoroughly enjoyed it, just disappointed that there was no veg.
I've eaten at the Refectory twice recently, and both times really enjoyed the experience. In particular, the aged rib eye steak was delicious (I was told the steak is aged in a room made from Himalayan salt blocks) and the heritage beetroot and goat's cheese salad was also particularly good. Everything is well-priced, and there is a good drinks list (the cocktails in the next door Chapter House bar also also excellent). Staff are friendly and knowledgeable. There is also an outdoor terrace (overlooking York station) which is a great place to sit when the weather is sunny.
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